Monthly Archives: December 2005

Dec 19 2005

tagged!

So Susan tagged me to do the whole “Seven 7′s” thing. I don’t have much time since I’m trying to leave for Orlando tomorrow, so most of this is off the top of my head: :-)

Seven 7′s

Seven things I hope to do before I die:

  • Visit Greece
  • Get married and have a family
  • Be able to start my own business as a graphic designer for missionaries
  • Learn to be a truly godly woman
  • Visit every state in the nation
  • Hike the Inca Trail
  • Make a difference in other people’s lives

Seven things I cannot do well:

  • Be self-disciplined
  • Clap while singing (I can’t keep a beat!)
  • Take tests
  • Arrive on time
  • Say “no” when people ask me to do stuff
  • Take care of – or enjoy – kids
  • Stop talking

Seven things that would attract me to my future husband:
(Although I tried not to do this, this also is a list of things I love about Paul)

  • His love and commitment for God
  • The way he compliments my personality
  • His patience in even the most frustrating situations
  • How “real” he is – not trying to always impress me or show off
  • His willingness to listen to me blab on and on and on… and on…
  • How he treats others with respect, even people who are “lower” than himself (socially)
  • His wisdom and maturity

Seven things I say often:

  • “I have to go – I’m late!”
  • “I’m watching my TV show; don’t bother me!” :-p
  • “I can’t believe what that driver just did!” (what can I say, I live in Atlanta…)
  • “She’s a beautiful girl, he’s a handsome boy” (talking to my kitties)
  • “Why won’t you just approve your ad???” (not speaking directly to the customer, of course…)
  • “I sleepy” (my grammar goes down the tube when i’m tired, too)
  • “I love you” (to Paul)

Seven authors, books, or series I love:

  • Anne of Green Gables series (L.M. Montgomery)
  • Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis)
  • Mary Stewart books (especially “The Moon-Spinners” and “The Ivy Tree”)
  • The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
  • Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
  • The Cat Who books (Lilian Jackson Braun)
  • The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)

Seven movies I watch over and over again:

  • Holiday Inn & White Christmas (I can watch both many times during the month of December)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean
  • Phantom of the Opera
  • Moulin Rouge
  • Beauty and the Beast (Disney version)
  • Ocean’s 11 and Ocean’s 12
  • Some of the 80′s movies I grew up with, like “Richest Cat in the World”, “The Leftovers”, and “Short Circuit”

Seven people I want to do this (in alphabetical order, of course):
I apologize if you’ve already done this… i don’t really feel like checking everyone’s blogs to make sure so i’m just going to guess!

  • Beth
  • Brent (I just want to make you update your blog ;-))
  • Joanna
  • Maria
  • Matt
  • Nichole
  • Sopeak
  • …and anyone else who wants to as well! :-)…
Dec 18 2005

Christmas cards

So it’s been quite a weekend. My car went (unexpectedly) into the shop on Thursday, so I’ve been stranded at my apartment all weekend (we had a company holiday on Friday). I was able to get in touch with a friend from church today, and she rescued me and took me to the grocery store to get some food. I was very relieved! My tummy is happy too! :-)

This evening I have been hard at work getting my Christmas cards out in the mail. I really enjoy sending out Christmas cards. It’s a great way to catch people up with what’s been going on, and to stay in touch. And of course spread holiday cheer. :-) I’m one of those people who likes to send Christmas cards to EVERYONE. My hand hurts after writing so much (and it could have something to do with it almost being 1:30 in the morning). Unfortunately I’m missing the snail mail addresses of most of the people on my list. SO… if I don’t have your address, email it to me and I will send you a Christmas card.

I’m hoping to get these all ready for the mail by Monday… Christmas is a week from tomorrow! (or today, technically) That means 8 days until my birthday. I should get my car back on Monday, and then on Tuesday it’s off to Orlando (I hope!). They’re replacing something big in my car that’s costing me a lot of money… I don’t understand it all but my dad called them and reported to me that they seemed to be honest. They guy at the car place wanted me to come look and see what was wrong, and I was like, “You have my car! How do you want me to get there?” But I was nice and just told him to go ahead and fix it.

Have I ever said how much I *hate* dealing with cars???

Send me your snail mail address!!

Dec 17 2005

i've moved!

I have mentioned before that my desire has been to turn my website into my blog, instead of going through blogger. Well, after many hours (over a period of 3 months) I have finally set up a blog using WordPress. I’m a little sad to leave Blogger behind, but perhaps I’ll come back and get my other blog going in full swing again, the other blog that I use to write my thoughts on current events and other hot button topics. I’m not confident enough about myself to give anyone the address to that blog, so you’ll just have to wonder for now. :-)

So folks, please change your bookmarks to go to the new location of my blog:
http://www.ashleydesign.org

I was able to move all my old posts over, but the pictures are having problems and since I don’t feel like uploading every single one to my server, you’ll just have to be picture-less for all posts previous to this one. Oh, and none of the comments transferred either (call that laziness) so you better leave lots of comments or it looks like no one loves me. ;-) (Don’t you like how bloggers determine their loveability by the number of comments others leave.)

Come visit me at my new home!
http://www.ashleydesign.org

Dec 14 2005

mechanics are not my thing

Probably the number one thing I hate about being single and living away from family is having to deal with the car. I would rather cook 1,000 dinners than have to deal with all the potentially fatal problems with this car. If I did not have to own a car, then I probably wouldn’t. (I actually seriously considered it until I realized two things: 1) the nearest bus stop is about 5-10 min. walking, on a street with no sidewalks and no streetlights, in the not-so-greatest section of Atlanta, and 2) there is no bus route from my apartment to my work.)

So I’ve been doing okay handling the oil changes. I even got my emissions tested okay last May. Recently my headlight burned out and I drove around illegally for at least a week (I have no clue when it actually burned out) until my dad came up. I did try to fix it on two occasions: I took it to a mechanic once and they told me that it required too much labor, a myth that a call to Frankie disproved, and another time I bought a new headlight bulb only to discover I didn’t have the proper tool to unscrew the headlight. But my dad came to the rescue and fixed it for me.

However, now I have a gas leak. I really hate this, because I know the minute I walk into a mechanic they are going to up the price and probably want to rebuild my engine. I’m considering having my dad call for an estimate so I can know what price to expect before I bring it in.

I also don’t know where to go. Most of my coworkers take their cars to the dealers, or somewhere that is too far for me to get to on my lunch break. One person sent me to a mechanic today and when I drove by, I decided it was too sketchy of a place for me to go by myself. (She didn’t understand when I tried to explain to her. She said, “Well you’re in Atlanta by yourself, you better get used to it.” I was frustrated because I feel as a woman you need to be careful about the places you go because there are bad people out there. Perhaps it’s because of growing up in Peru. I stand by my desire to have at least *someone* with me, male or female.)

So… that being said… My car is still leaking gas (though not puddles on the ground – it’s just a strong smell). I guess I will deal with it Friday (no lunch break tomorrow) and pray that it’s something that can be fixed before Tuesday, when I leave to Orlando for Christmas. I hate dealing with this. I really hate it.

Oh and yes – my license expires on my birthday and I still haven’t received my new one in the mail. Pray that it gets here before Tuesday or I will be driving back from Florida on an expired license.